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ID Theft Risks That Lurk in Your Child’s Backpack

While you’re out searching for the perfect back-to-school backpack for your child, the more important consideration other than style, size, and color should be — what can happen if a dishonest person gets a hold of it? The things your child carries in his or her backpack can become a huge financial headache if they fall into the wrong hands.

With identity-related crimes at historic levels, the odds are better than ever that a dishonest person will know the basics of taking advantage of the kinds of personally identifiable information, sensitive data (like passwords and credit card numbers), and the many other keys to your household economy that can lurk in your child’s backpack.

Here’s a short list of what a relatively creative thief might find in your child’s backpack, and what you can do to prevent the worst from happening.

1. A Smartphone

While obvious to you (hopefully), does your child understand the serious potential for disaster that a walk-about smartphone can bring to your doorstep?

It can be as simple as a scammer dialing 611 and ordering new services. Chances are good that there’s enough information in your child’s backpack for a motivated thief to get your name and thus the keys to your telephonic kingdom.

But there are other identity indignities that can be done. Many people store user name and password information on the Notes app of their phones. The Notes may contain other informational cracks and crevices as well and open up unsuspecting third parties — relatives and friends — to scams. Email scams, grandparent scams, an iTunes or apps shopping spree, malware installation — so many tidbits to exploit.

What to do: Talk to your kids about the dangers of an unsecured phone and discuss basic data storage details with them — like what information shouldn’t be on their phones. Is the phone locked with a passcode? It should be! Also have them set strong (think creatively alpha-numeric) passwords, and a Find Me app to erase the contents should the device fall into the wrong hands.

2. Their Laptop

You don’t need to be a movie buff to know that a computer is a dangerous thing in the wrong hands. Most issues associated with a lost phone come to bear here as well. Emails can be sent to relatives or strangers in the service of stealing money or wreaking havoc.

Beyond the irresistible cornucopia of files that may well be saved on the device, email is a treasure trove of personally identifiable information — everything from credit card numbers to more data like name, address, email addresses and birthdays — pieces of a puzzle that can be assembled to present a believable story to a customer service representative and then steal valuable goods and services, or used as a fly trap to accumulate even more personally identifiable information.

Does your child have access to your Netflix account? How about Amazon or iTunes? Where else have they gone in cyberspace that might have their information — or yours? Open social media sites that are set to login automatically afford a wide vista of scamming opportunities too.

What to do: Make sure your child gets into the habit of logging out of all their online accounts, and that they don’t store sensitive information on their laptops. Talk to them about the wisdom of not saving user ID and password information, and how to make a good one. Finally, have your child set a password — shared with you — to protect their device against the wrong person accessing it.

3. Keys and Name Tags

So, this is pretty straightforward: If your child uses a karabiner to attach his or her keys to their backpack, you’ve got a potential robbery waiting to happen.

Additionally, there are apps that can allow a fraudster (as well as a person who might want to use the app to avoid unnecessary inconvenience) to make a copy of a key that a locksmith can duplicate.

What to do: Tell your child to keep the keys to your home in their pocket rather than on their back.

4. Gaming Device

Playstation Vita is a popular gaming device — and not the only device that could cause you a world of woe should it fall into the wrong hands — but we’ll single it out for the sake of illustration.

The good news: Your personally identifiable information is safe even if someone grabs the device, because it’s password-protected and associated with your gamer’s access to the network.

That doesn’t mean that a bad player can’t do some damage. First, they can play games and wreck your child’s sterling reputation in the community. Worse: Whoever has that device can buy games and run up a hefty bill. One-click purchased games are something any malicious third party can rack up in the way of a very expensive just-because crime.

What to do: Have your child set a passcode for access to the device and make sure they share it with you.

When it comes to data security, best practices are universal. It’s your job to pass on what your kids need to know to stay safe and keep your family out of the crosshairs of ID theft.

To cover all your financial bases, enroll in one of our First Financial’s ID Theft Protection product plans – with our Fully Managed Identity Recovery services, you don’t need to worry. A professional Recovery Advocate will do the work on your behalf, based on a plan that you approve. Should you experience an Identity Theft incident, your Recovery Advocate will stick with you all along the way – and will be there for you until your good name is restored.

Our ID Theft Protection options may include some of the following services, based on the package you choose to enroll in: Lost Document Replacement, Credit Bureau Monitoring, Score Tracker, and Three-Generation Family Benefit.* To learn more about our ID Theft Protection products, click here and find out how you can enroll today – as well as get started with your first 90 days free!**

*Identity Theft insurance underwritten by subsidiaries or affiliates of Chartis Inc. The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.

**Available for new enrollments only. After the free trial of 90 days, the member must contact the Credit Union to opt-out of ID Theft Protection or the monthly fee of $4.95 will automatically be deducted out of the base savings account or $8.95 will be deducted out of the First Protection Checking account (depending upon the coverage option selected), on a monthly basis or until the member opts out of the program.